BOYERTOWN — Gabby Tareila was limited to a cameo appearance or two for Spring-Ford last season, but that was about it because of the Rams’ very experienced and very talented lineup.

The junior figured her time would come this spring, when she’d get situated behind the plate and take over for All-Pioneer Athletic Conference catcher Alexa Nadwodny. What she didn’t figure, though, was a position move … or taking over All-Pioneer Athletic Conference shortstop – as well as league MVP – Marisha Bates.

“I felt a little pressure,” Tareila admitted.

Perhaps, but there weren’t any noticeable nerves Thursday afternoon when she handled three of four chances flawlessly in the field and unloaded a pair of home runs with bat-in-hand to spark Spring-Ford to a 7-2 win at Boyertown.

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Tareila led off the second inning with her first blast to deep center field, the first of only two hits allowed by Boyertown starter Mandy Kalil through four innings. Then she capped a six-run rally in the fifth with a two-run shot just to the right of center that skipped past a pair of Boyertown outfielders that made it 7-0 and, for all intents and purposes, put the game out of the hosts’ reach.

More important, she helped the rebuilding Rams remain unbeaten (3-0) and drop the rebuilding Bears (1-2) under the .500 mark for the first time in a long, long time.

“I feel fine because I know (veteran) Cassie (Alexy) is next to me at third base,” Tareila said. “She lets me know if I make mistakes. She’s played almost every position, so I know I can go to her, or anyone else, if I need help at all.”

What Tariela doesn’t seem to need any assistance on is hitting.

“I always think I can hit for power, but I’ve never had two (home runs) in one game before,” she added.

“Gabby’s a catcher, and we had her penciled in as a catcher,” Rams head coach Tim Hughes explained. “But some situations occurred and we had to make some moves.”

One big “situation” was Alexy suffering a knee injury. An all-league second baseman a year ago, Alexy was going to shift over to shortstop. But the injury has left her playing with a knee brace and limits her range … so enter Tareila.

“Gabby has a heck of an arm, and she’s doing well there,” Hughes said.

Real well, at least as far as Boyertown is concerned.

Kalil, a tall freshman southpaw, had limited the Rams to just the home run and a two-out Kyle Harris single in that second inning through four innings. She nearly went pitch-for-pitch with Spring-Ford starter Haleigh Williams, who only gave up a pair of singles through four as well.

But then came the decisive fifth. Harris opened with a single, moved up on a pair of walks and scored on double-steal and error. Alexy singled to load the bases and Taylor Brennan – who is doing the catching instead of Tareila – drilled a three-run triple to right. One out later, Tareila unloaded again to chase Kalil and, that quickly, it was 7-0.

“A lot of us are new this year, but we have a lot of decent players, too,” she said. “We feel we can play a good game. We practice hard, work on a lot of situations, and because of it we’re confident.

“We were aware (playing Boyertown) is a big game. But we were ready.”

“This feels good,” added Hughes. “Boyertown is a much better team than we saw today. We were just fortunate to get some key hits, hits in key situations. But we have to get the girls to keep putting their foot on the gas and not let up. They’re learning, though.”

Hankins sees similar improvement in her own lineup, too.

The Bears, limited to one hit in a 4-0 loss to Perkiomen Valley a day earlier, had six hits against Williams – three by Melissa Bond out of the leadoff spot. They also pushed across two runs, the first on Vicky Schlott’s RBI single in the fifth and the second on Kelli Long’s RBI triple in the sixth.

“We started hitting those last few innings,” Hankins said. “Again, we’re looking at too many pitches. But we’re not concerned about hitting because it shouldn’t be very hard to rejuvenate our offense.

“Right now we’re all adjusting. We’re still getting to know each other and everyone’s ability so far. We have stuff to work on, but this was only game three. We’ll be fine.”

NOTES: Emily Allen finished up with 2.2 innings of shutout relief for Boyertown, which got solid defensive play from first baseman Amanda Loar, who hauled in five flies, including a sliding one-handed stab in the first off the bat of Williams. …Williams scattered six hits, walked three and struck out five for her third straight winning decision. … Spring-Ford went without Brianna Kofer, a returning All PAC-10 outfielder, who was sick.